meanwhile the defense secretary panetta demost ad four star general. william ward was stripped of a star after being accused of spending thousands of dollars on lavish travel and other unauthorized spends. he's been ordered to repay the government $82,000. >>> to efforts to avert the fiscal cliff. today president obama holds his first news conference since being re-elected. he'll meet with business leaders to discuss the budget crisis. on friday he meets with congressional leaders as they work to avoid the tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to go into effect next year. if that happens, middle income families will see a tax increase of $2,000. the congressional budget office says nearly 3.5 million jobs will be lost and the unemployment rate will jump to over 9% if a deal isn't reached. the white house says the president is prepared to listen. >> fair to say the president also believes -- he's not looking to box himself in or box other people's ideas out as we approach the conversation that will begin on friday. >> republicans want to hold the line o